Vale's Kesley Stepleton is fouled while driving to the hoop against Sutherlin on Thursday (John Gunther photo).

COOS BAY — After just missing the championship game the past two years, Vale’s girls have been on a mission this season.

The top-ranked Vikings started their quest for a trip to the final at this year’s OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 3A basketball championships with a 58-20 win over Sutherlin in the tournament’s opening game at Marshfield High School on Thursday.

“At the start of the season, we said, ‘We were this close last year, we want to work that much harder to get there,” said Vale’s Kesley Stapleton, one of six seniors for the Vikings playing in their third tournament.

The Vikings got a big early lead and cruised the rest of the way to advance to the semifinals for the third straight year. This time their opponent will be another set of Bulldogs, and one new to the semifinals. Creswell beat Mountain Valley Conference rival Sisters 52-40 for its first quarterfinal win.

The other semifinal is a rematch of last year’s title game, with defending champion Amity battling Banks. Amity beat Pleasant Hill 48-26 and Banks topped Valley Catholic 51-24.

Expect the Vikings to be ready for their game with Creswell when they meet in the first semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Friday (the second follows at 8:15).

“We’ve kind of been on a mission,” Vale coach Randy Seals said. “There’s so many teams here, you can’t overlook anyone.”

Against Sutherlin, Vale’s challenge was how to find success against the Bulldogs’ match-up zone.

Even though Vale led all the way, Seals said the Vikings took a bit to get going.

“We cleaned up our scheme a little bit,” he said. “Once we got the ball moving, we got better shots.”

The Vikings shot 43 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range.

“We shot pretty well,” said Elli Jacobs, who was celebrating her 18^th birthday.

Jacobs was a big part of Vale getting the lead. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and when Stepleton scored inside, Vale led 13-2 less than four minutes into the contest.

Sutherlin tried to stay close. Makaila Mcclatcher had a pair of conventional three-point plays and later a jumper to pull the Bulldogs within 17-12 with 2:31 to go in the opening quarter.

That’s when Vale’s defense stiffened up.

“Our defense really dug in after the first quarter,” Seals said.

“Early in the game, Sutherlin did a good job of beating our press and getting to the basket. Mcclatcher is so fast. During a timeout I told the team we’ve got to keep in front of them and make them take tough shots. We did that.”

Sutherlin went more than ice cold.

After McClatcher’s jumper with 2:31 to go in the first quarter, Sutherlin only had one more point the entire first half, a free throw by Allison Waechter late in the second quarter, and Vale led 29-13 at the break.

The third quarter was more of the same, the Bulldogs getting just a single free throw, this time by Mcclatcher, as Vale built a 42-14 advantage. The Vikings didn’t make another field goal until less than three minutes to go in the game, a shot by Kylie Harris. By then, the running clock was in effect and the outcome had long been decided.

Sutherin finished the game just 6-for-27 from the floor (22 percent) and shot just 1-for-20 in the last three quarters. Mcclatcher scored nine points to lead the Bulldogs.

“I think that our defense is what we always do well,” Jacobs said. “That’s what we focus on.”

Stepleton had a game-high 14 points for Vale. Jacobs added 11. Karlee Crane, another of the seniors, had four points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Thursday’s win got the Vikings one step closer to their ultimate goal, a state championship.

“We’ve played since we were in kindergarten together,” Jacobs said. “We’ve wanted it all our lives.”

“I think all of us contribute,” added Stepleton. “It makes it fun to play together. We all want to try hard for each other.”

Sutherlin faces Sisters in the consolation semifinals Friday morning at North Bend High School.

In Thursday’s other quarterfinals …

CRESWELL 52, SISTERS 40: The Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter to advance to the semifinals for the first time in school history.

“That was really awesome,” Creswell coach Tyler Hollingsworth said. “That was a dogfight. When you go against a league opponent (everyone knows everyone). Somebody’s got to make plays.”

Creswell did that in the final quarter. The Bulldogs entered the final frame leading 37-36. Elliette Kinney had a steal and hoop on the opening possession of the quarter to push the lead to three points and then hit a 3-pointer after another steal to push the advantage to six.

“The defense was huge, getting stops and being able to execute shots,” Hollingsworth said, adding that with Kinney’s 3-pointer, “making the extra pass to get a great shot.”

Sisters turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the fourth, but finally scored on a drive to the hoop with five minutes to go by Maici Cotner, but Kinney had another hoop for Creswell. When Raelee Green hit a 3-pointer, the Bulldogs had an eight-point lead.

After coming back from deficits the first three quarters, Sisters was unable to respond in the final minutes in its first-ever trip to the final site.

Kinney, who didn’t score in the first half when she was in foul trouble, finished with a game-high 17 points.

“It makes a difference when she’s on the floor,” Hollingsworth said.

Green had 12 points and Kylie Leonard added 11. Kinney, Green and Leonard each made two 3-pointers and as a team, Creswell made eight 3-pointers, the second straight contest the Bulldogs have done that.

“We’ve got great shooters,” Hollingsworth said. “This is the best shooting team I’ve ever had. We track it in practice and it hasn’t progressed into games (until now). It’s coming together at the right time.”

Maddie Durham had 13 points to lead Sisters and Cotner added 10. The Outlaws meet Sutherlin at 9 a.m. Friday at North Bend High School in the consolation semifinals.

BANKS 51, VALLEY CATHOLIC 24: The Braves used a huge third quarter to pull away from the Valiants and advance to the rematch with Amity.

Banks led just 19-13 at halftime but outscored Valley Catholic 18-2 in the third quarter.

Clarissa Shurts had 22 points and Nylah Vanthom added 12 for the Braves, who did not make a 3-pointer but shot 20-for-35 from inside the arc.

Valley Catholic was just 1-for-22 from 3-point range and 11-for-52 overall. Brooke Wilson had eight points and Calista Everson six for Valley Catholic.

AMITY 48, PLEASANT HILL 26: The Warriors built a 28-10 halftime lead and cruised into the semifinals.

Alyssa McMullen had 20 points, including hitting six 3-pointers for Amity. Eliza Nisly added 12 points.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Hill struggled all game, shooting just 7-for-41 from the floor (17 percent) and 2-for-18 from 3-point range (11 percent).

The Billies also committed 24 turnovers against Amity’s defense, though they also forced 19 of their own. The two defensive-minded clubs combined for 30 steals in the game.

Ashlyn Johnson scored eight points to lead Pleasant Hill, which meets Valley Catholic in the second consolation semifinal at North Bend at 10:45 a.m. Friday.